On esitetty, että yksi selittävä tekijä protestileirien synnyn taustalla olisi tarve autonomiaan, mikä arkkitehtuurin kohdalla käsitetään tarpeena omaehtoiseen ja itsenäiseen oman elinympäristön määrittämiseen ja rakentamiseen. Autonomian tarve voidaan myös tulkita niin, että vallitseva hierarkkinen rakentamisen käytäntö ei kykene riittävästi vastaamaan ihmisten tarpeisiin. Autonomista arkkitehtuuria tutkimalla voidaankin etsiä vastauksia siihen, mitä ihmiset tarvitsevat arkkitehtuurilta. Tämän lisäksi olisi toivottavaa tutkia ja pohtia sitä, miten arkkitehdit voisivat edesauttaa omaehtoisen ja itsenäisen rakentamisen pyrkimyksissä.Protest camps can be thought of as temporary environments for living and action, built from political starting points. The guiding political principles of the building of the camps are also reflected to their built environment. Architectural research of protest camps can be considered essential both for the understanding of the connections between political visions and architecture, and for documenting the often ephemeral built environment of the camps.

A part of the political content of protest camps is often aspiration to autonomous organization in relation to dominant social practices. In my thesis, I study the principles of space-making and architecture of protest camps in relation to the principles and practices that result from their aspirations to autonomy. In the background of this thesis, I have utilized both research of social science and of architectural theory. From the social sciences I have sought information on the politics and methods of organization of protest camps. From the theory of architecture I have sought information on the links between architecture, culture and power. The architecture of protest camps is assessed by combining these theoretical backgrounds – by comparing their political visions and principles with the concrete form of the built environment. This study is mainly based on my own observations of the built environment of four different protest camps. At each of these camps I spent time from five days to several weeks. The research material consists of the observations, maps and visual material such as drawings.

Protest camps aim at creating autonomous space by occupying, inhabiting and bordering space. In a defined camp space, in turn, a self-built environment can be created where the construction of space and of individual buildings often occur from one’s own initiative, and people have the opportunity to create their living environment autonomously. The architecture of protest camps can be read as spatial text of countercultures. It reflects antagonism towards dominant practices of construction and its aesthetics, as well as autonomous valuations and views.

It has been argued that one explanatory factor behind the birth of protest camps is the need for autonomy, which in architecture means the need to define and build space both from one’s own initiative and autonomously. The efforts to autonomy can be interpreted to indicate the inability of dominant hierarchical practice of construction to answer people´s needs sufficiently. The research of autonomous architecture can answer questions concerning what people request from architecture. In addition, it would be advisable to research on and reflect on how architects could contribute to the aspirations of building autonomously.